Tadej Pogacar on Giro d'Italia selection and Tour de France expectations - "The World Championships is also a big goal of the season for me, not only the Grand Tours"

All eyes are on the UAE Team Emirates team camp today as Tadej Pogacar talks about his 2024 goals, the team reveals Grand Tour lineups and many riders and managers are voicing their expectations into the upcoming season. The Slovenian has already talked about the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

"I don't look at the Giro and the Tour as twins. Each race is a story in itself. You have to be very focused on each one. The World Championships is also a big goal of the season for me, not only the Grand Tours," Pogacar said in a press conference, with words collected by Igor Tominec of Radio Slovenija. The supertalent is racing both Grand Tours with the ultimate ambition of victory and alongside it follows a less traditional calendar.

At the Giro, he should now be the mean to beat. At the Tour de France, he's part of a lineup that will include Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso and João Almeida who will be fully focused in the French race. "There is still a long way to the Tour, a lot can happen. But it is clear that we UAE will go with an extremely strong team," Pogacar assures. It will be a yellow jersey chase like the team has never done before, and comes as an attempt to dethrone an established Jumbo-Visma.

The real highlight of the schedule however is the presence of the Giro d'Italia. This was something the 25-year old has wanted to do for a long time actually, and the pieces finally fit together: "Every year I had the Giro d'Italia in my plan, but the team and I never committed to it until this year. There will definitely be some year when I miss also the Tour de France. It is the biggest race, but there are other attractive destinations in cycling.”

He leaves an extra note for the Tour de France, where he refers to Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel directly. "If the big four and many others will participate in the Tour de France, then the next edition will surely go down in history," he promises, on what is a highly anticipated race.